To treat stenosis—the narrowing of a bodily passage—physicians frequently dilate the bodily passage using a balloon catheter. For example, when functioning normally, sinus passages allow mucus to drain from the sinus cavities and allow air to circulate throughout the respiratory system. However, when a sinus passage, such as an ostium, becomes blocked and prevents the outflow of material from a sinus cavity, infection can occur resulting in sinusitis.
To treat these conditions, physicians sometimes systematically administer drugs at a treatment site within the sinus or prescribe antibiotics to reduce inflammation and/or treat the infection. Alternatively, balloon sinuplasty—the dilation of a sinus passage using a balloon catheter—can be performed to unblock the sinus passage. Conventional sinuplasty procedures advance a balloon catheter over a previously placed guide wire and move the balloon to an inflated configuration to effectuate dilation and unblock the obstructed passage. However, these procedures are complicated by the need to navigate and position the guide wire prior to positioning the balloon catheter at a point of treatment (e.g., within an ostium). For example, the guide wire must be advanced through the nasal passage and then navigated through the ostium, which may be disposed at an abrupt angle to the nasal passage. The structural arrangement of the nasal passage relative to the ostium increases the difficulty and time required to advance the guide wire through the ostium such that a balloon catheter can be advanced to the point of treatment.
Therefore, a need exists for improved devices, methods, and kits for locating and treating tissue in a wall defining a bodily passage, such as a sinus passage, airway, or sinus cavity.